Area boys’ high school basketball coaches are in agreement that the 35-second shot clock approved this week by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s Board of Control will be an improvement to the game.
The shot clock won’t be implemented until the 2027-28 season, but Hoptown boys’ coach Anthony Babb said a change was needed to help prepare the players for the college game.
Jordan Grace, who was just hired as the University Heights Academy boys’ basketball coach in the spring, said he thinks the rule change will make the high school game more exciting for the players, coaches and fans.
Christian County boys’ basketball coach Dior Curtis said other states, including Georgia, already have started using the shot clock and Kentucky is smart to keep up. The Louisville Courier-Journal’s Jason Frakes reported that 31 states and Washington D.C are planning on using the 35-second shot clock in the 2025-26 seson.
Curtis said coaching strategy, especially late in the first half and end of the game, will be an interesting twist to the new rule.
Frakes said a survey was conducted in August and 150 of the 252 responding schools rejected the adoption of a shot clock.
However, the Board of Control voted 13-5 for the implementation of the shot clock to be in effect by the 2027-28 season. The shot clock only will be used in varsity games.
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